Day 22 – Yarmouth to Clark’s Harbour

August 4, 2017

We motored out of the harbor and entered thick fog just offshore, just before high tide to ride the current south. We put the sails up and stared down the thirty-five miles before us.

Calm seas under fog

The fog cleared before long but as we headed up wind towards Clark’s Harbour the tidal current changed directions and forced us to tack on zig zags far off the wind. The miles crawled by, but I was flying through the day’s bag of potato chips. Andrew reached down and slid open the control panel in the cockpit. The Atomic 4 rumbled to life, fighting the current.

Nap time

As we came around Outer Island we plunged back into a thick fog bank. Andrew read the charts (rocks everywhere) while I manned the tiller and we followed channel markers to the northernmost of the two breakwaters.

A long blast of a horn broke the drone of our motor, followed by another. It was impossible to tell how far we could actually see; we stood on guard ready to evade collision with whatever vessel was signaling. It sounded again, closer. Andrew responded with our airhorn and we searched the gray gradient for an outline. A shape came into view, the breakwater, and it became clear we had been signaling to a foghorn. Good thing we let it know where we were. Later, we noted that fog horn patterns are marked on the charts.

We tied up just behind a line of large lobster boats in the breakwater, taking care to leave enough slack in the line to account for the coming low tide. I climbed the ladder up and went looking for the harbor office, but found it closed. Andrew and Caly joined in the search for a bathroom. We wandered around a surprising number of lobster boats out of the water and I stopped to consult three guys working on their engine. Canadian Maritime accents directed me in the right direction.

We made mac and cheese and chicken seasoned with chili powder for dinner, delicious.